Sunday, May 18, 2025
5/18/2025
Integrated Viral Hepatitis Surveillance and Prevention in Philadelphia - The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) submits this proposal for CDC-RFA-PS21-2103: Integrated Viral Hepatitis Surveillance and Prevention Funding for Health Departments to enhance viral hepatitis surveillance, increase stakeholder engagement in viral hepatitis elimination planning, and improve access to viral hepatitis prevention, diagnosis, and treatment among populations most at risk. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a racially, ethnically, and socio-demographically diverse city of nearly 1.6 million residents and vulnerable populations make up a significant proportion. Health inequities widely persist in Philadelphia, and many communities experience deep rooted disparities requiring targeted approaches to public health action to address the elevated burden of hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) viruses, and related conditions. Philadelphia is also meaningfully affected by the opioid epidemic and resulting syndemics, adding to disease burden. With this funding, PDPH will build upon the existing viral hepatitis surveillance infrastructure it created using CDC funding (CDC-RFA-PS12-1303, CDC-RFA-PS17-1702) to monitor for outbreaks, the burden, and clinical management of acute and chronic HBV and HCV, and perinatal HCV. Hepatitis A virus (HAV) surveillance and outbreak response resources and infrastructure already exist at PDPH in other programs that will collaborate on these objectives. PDPH will approach surveillance and outbreak activities with a continuous quality improvement approach and an additional objective to reduce hepatitis-associated health disparities. The Viral Hepatitis Program (HEP) and other Department of Disease Control (DDC) staff have a long history of outbreak detection and investigation and are experienced in using analytic methods to identify potential clusters and outbreaks. PDPH has existing capacity to collect, analyze, interpret, and disseminate surveillance data to characterize trends and implement public health interventions for HAV, and acute, chronic, and perinatal HBV and HCV. PDPH will facilitate the development and implementation of a viral hepatitis elimination plan for Philadelphia utilizing the established partnerships with local coalitions, state advocacy groups, and federal agencies formed with existing CDC funding (CDC-RFA-PS17-1702). Contingent on funding, PDPH will collaborate with stakeholders to increase access to the testing, counseling, and treatment of HBV and HCV infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) at high-impact settings. Dedicated staff will focus on partnerships and community engagement which maximizes the ability to improve access to testing, treatment, and prevention. Further contingent on funding, support for syringe service programs and access to HAV and HBV vaccination among PWID will be increased with additional staff to navigate community members to services. PDPH is applying for the special projects and will coordinate a multisite approach to integration of infectious disease prevention, screening, and treatment services with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment among PWID. PDPH’s plan will build on existing infrastructure that exists to support PWID to provide comprehensive and integrated infectious disease and SUD-related care. Further, this project will work with stakeholders to ensure collaboration and integration of services, partnerships with outside entities and a streamlined approach to harm reduction and care surrounding HIV, HCV, HBV and other infectious disease consequences of drug use.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).